Westgate betting contest covers first 2 days of NCAA Tournament

The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are arguably the best two days on the sports calendar. And for the first time, the Westgate sports book is offering a contest that covers only the opening two days March 15 and 16.

The entry fee is $100 for the Westgate’s Hoops Madness Challenge, with a maximum of three entries. Contestants will select winners against the spread on 28 of the 32 games, as the contest won’t include winners of the First Four games that will be played Tuesday and Wednesday. The contest lines will be posted Monday and won’t change.

“It gives them something else to root for, especially on the first two days, how exciting it is,” Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “They’ll have something else on the line that’s relatively inexpensive. Who knows, put a little run together and you can get a little bonus.”

The Westgate will pay back 100 percent of the entry fees March 18, with 50 percent to first place, 30 percent to second place and 20 percent to third. The tiebreaker will be the total points scored in a game to be determined. The deadline for entries is 10 p.m. March 14.

Last Man Standing

Station Casinos sports books has its annual $50,000 Last Man Standing elimination contest for the NCAA Tournament. Entries cost $25 each or five for $100. Contestants make a daily selection ATS and stay alive until losing a round or failing to submit a pick. The winner gets the entire prize pot, which is expected to be more than $50,000, as it’s based on the total entries. The deadline to enter is 9 a.m. March 15.

NCAA Tournament seminar

Sunset Station is hosting its annual Tip Off to the Tourney seminar from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday inside Club Madrid. The event is free and open to the public, and free pizza and soft drinks will be served.

The panel of handicappers will include Bruce Marshall from the Gold Sheet, ESPN 1100 radio host Bernie Fratto and Andy Iskoe from Gaming Today.

Baseball season wins contest

The Westgate also is offering its inaugural Baseball Season Wins Challenge. The entry fee is $200, with a maximum of three entries, and contestants will select over or under on win totals for each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. Each winning selection will earn one point.

Contest lines have been set by the Westgate and won’t change. The deadline to enter is 10 p.m. March 28.

“We’ve always wanted to do something with baseball season wins,” Kornegay said. “Season win wagers are so popular because you have action for the entire season. Take that times 30.”

The Westgate will pay back 100 percent of the entry fees, with 50 percent to first place, 30 percent to second and 20 percent to third. The tiebreaker is the total number of combined wins for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.

January win

Nevada sports books won $25 million in January, including $14.9 million on basketball and $7.8 million on football, per the state’s Gaming Control Board. For comparison, Nevada casinos won $279 million in the month on penny slots.

More betting: Follow all of our sports betting coverage online at reviewjournal.com/betting and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.